Pair of UH-Manoa student films chosen for International Film Festival

Two student films from UH Mānoa‘s Academy for Creative Media have been selected for screening at the Riverside (CA) International Film Festival, April 11-20.

"Atonement" by Seong Kyu Whang and "My Brother‘s Keeper" by Russell Blanchard will join films from the U.S., Spain, Lebanon, Australia, and the Philippines.

Both films were featured in the 2007 Hawaiʻi International Film Festival as well.

"ACM has enjoyed a solid relationship with the Riverside Festival, now 6 years old," said Tom Brislin, ACM chair. "They are very discriminating and accept only the top student films. This is the second year our students have received this honor."

Brislin noted that the festival programmers enjoy the unique perspective on local life that ACM student films present, stripped away of stereotypes and tropical clichés.

Both films explore darker themes — poverty, crime, and addiction — that are balanced by redemption through character relationships. "These are dynamic stories," Brislin said. "The festival made an excellent choice."